# Syria: What You Missed

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/middle-east-focus-529488/syria-what-you-missed
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/middle-east-focus-529488/syria-what-you-missed.md
Podcast: [Middle East Focus](https://stenobird.com/podcast/middle-east-focus-529488)
Published: 2026-09-10T16:21:00+00:00
Episode link: https://middleeastinst.libsyn.com/syria-what-you-missed
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/middleeastinst/Middle_East_Focus_9.9.26_20260217T160513.002642_20260402T104122.002838_20260603T161046.615840_20260604T142209.247149_20260709T143323.213562_20260730T111718.459335_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=531685
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/middle-east-focus-529488/episodes/syria-what-you-missed
Duration seconds: 2711

## Resource

Though it has fallen out of the headlines because of the Iran war, Syria has had a dramatically consequential summer. Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Senior Fellow Charles Lister to take stock of recent developments: the dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Israeli strikes and the friction with Turkey they have exposed, the standoff in Sweida, as well as Damascus's bid to turn Syria into a trade corridor between the Mediterranean and the Gulf. Is the transition consolidating or fragmenting nearly two years after the fall of the Assad regime? Recorded on September 9, 2026.

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## Transcript

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